Telephone fundraising agency Listen Fundraising has announced that it is implementing three measures, including the appointment of an external auditor, to address allegations made against it by the Mail on Sunday.
In a statement released last week, Listen said that it took the allegations made by the newspaper “very seriously” and confirmed that it has appointed accountancy firm Grant Thornton as an external independent auditor. Grant Thornton will “look in detail” at everything, from the agency’s processes to its “company culture”.
Listen will also introduce “full video recording” of all induction training sessions – which will be made available to all of its clients for review – and has launched its own, internal HR investigation into the incident.
The allegations stems from an article published on June 7 in the Mail on Sunday. The newspaper sent a number of undercover reporters into the agency's offices and reported that Listen staff harassed "the poor, sick and elderly" and taught new staff to use "callous methods" to extract donations.
It also wrote that managers at Listen “refused to remove telephone numbers from the charity’s database even when the people called complained of harassment”, and claimed that undercover reporters were taught how to “extract donations from a 98-year-old pensioner, and a new mother just home from hospital after giving birth to twins”.
In response to the article, aid and development charity Oxfam froze its contracts with Listen.
Listen’s managing director comments
Tony Charalambides, managing director of Listen Fundraising, has also released a statement in which he said the agency’s aim is to “inform best practice across the industry”.
“Listen prides itself on being a leading fundraising organisation, and our aim is to inform best practice across the industry. Professionalism, commitment and transparency have always been at the very heart of what we do,” he said.
In the wake of the allegations, and the “intense scrutiny” the fundraising sector in general has come under in the last year, Charalambides conceded that “fresh approaches to fundraising” are needed.
“We have been proactively looking in detail at fresh approaches to fundraising for some time. Earlier this year, the IoF conducted research across all fundraising platforms, and we sponsored the telephone element.
“The findings showed telephone fundraising is the most responsive channel, but scored lower on engagement with donors, and that remains a crucial challenge for the sector as a whole.
“Charities, agencies and regulators need to come together and have a sensible discussion about how best to strike the balance between raising essential funds for beneficiaries whilst taking public opinion into account and increasing donor engagement.”
The One Show send viewers pre-prepared ‘opt-out’ letters
Last week, the One Show on the BBC, published a fundraising opt-out template letter for viewers to download from its website.
The letter template was made available after a segment of last Monday’s show was devoted to charity fundraising and its “aggressive tactics”. By the end of the week the letter had been downloaded 18,000 times.
The letter asks the recipient charity stops contacting the sender for marketing purposes. It gives the charity 28 days to comply or else a complaint Information Commissioner’s Office.
